


My Knight in Shining Armour

by Anonymous



Category: UNIQ (Band), X 玖少年团 | X-NINE (Band)
Genre: Cute Xiao Zhan | Sean, Fluff and Angst, I Don't Even Know, Little Mermaid Elements, Liu Haikuan is just there for zhu zanjin, M/M, Pirates of the Caribbean References, Prince Wang Yibo, Wang Yi Bo Is Whipped, besides felix and chan they're merpeople, featuring zhuocheng as a caring brother, im still at school, literally the untamed roles just the casts real names, please save me, the whole Jin clan is a pirate crew, wang yizhou is the captain, xiao is a brat, xiao zhan is a mermaid, yibo cant act like a pirate to save both of them, zhu zanjin is second in command
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:48:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29923320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Pirates steal merfolk all the time for their tears. Makes them richer. Humans are filthy to Xiao ZhanUntil Prince Yibo makes himself known
Relationships: Wang Yi Bo/Xiao Zhan | Sean
Comments: 6
Kudos: 42
Collections: Wangxian/Yizhan





	1. Chapter 1

Xiao sighed softly as he examined the male playing his zither on the dock, his bright blue eyes scanning over the other with a fond gaze. Xiao Zhan was a mermaid. Yes the ones that lived at the bottom of the deep blue sea. Though it wasn’t like the little mermaid. They were ruled by a king, but not a rude evil one. The King actually allowed his subjects to go above land. In fact, he encouraged it. It meant that the merpeople would get more experience with humans. Though most merfolk would argue that that was why so many mermaids and mermen were going missing.

That was why Xiao was always careful. Always halfway above water or behind a rock watching the human who had moved in. The place on the beach had been like a hideaway for Xiao, all until that curious human made his home there. At first, the merman was a bit annoyed, having somebody ruin his fun, but then… the sounds of a sweet tune filled the air, and that was how Xiao had started to fall. 

The male hummed quietly at the tune the creature was playing, smiling softly to himself as his bright green tail swished around in the air. The human was actually rather good at playing. He wondered if merpeople could play their instruments just as nice. The male had certainly missed a bit of the professional balls and music gatherings lately thanks to this. It seemed like the merman couldn’t get enough. 

Well, that was until the zither stopped playing. “Who’s out there?” The human asked, Xiao freezing as he stared, ducking down behind the rock and quickly ducking under the water. 

“Wow, great going Xiao, aren’t you great at this?” He grumbled to himself, snapping his fingers in annoyance and his face turning red. “How could you be so stupid as to let him hear you?! He even had an instrument going and you were being that loud?” Xiao had a tendency to yell at himself when he did something wrong, often getting Zhuocheng to smack him as well to tell him to shut up. “Of all the thi-” Splash… A splash? Xiao turned his head, his black hair floating around him, and the bubbles of the fallen human right across from him. Could he.. Could he not swim? 

“You live by a beach but you can’t swim?!” The best part about humans? They couldn’t hear you underwater, so Xiao could yell at him about not being able to swim all he wanted. “What am I supposed to do?! Do I help him? Grab Zhuocheng? Just leave him?” Leaving him would mean less trouble. The stranger could be a mermaid hunter. Oh but Xiao was just too nice for that. In the midst of panicking, his body made up it’s own thoughts before his mind did. That waa how he’d found himself on the beach, with the unconscious human right beside him. 

Xiao quickly checked for a pulse, knowing humans had that type of thing from learning it in his school years. A sigh escaped the merman as he realized that the other still had a  
heartbeat. That was one good thing to happen at least. Xiao let a small smile graze onto his face, starting to sing an ancient merfolk song to calm the human’s mind.

The only reason he stopped was when Xiao saw the other’s eyelids open, revealing dark brown eyes. Xiao had never seen them up close before. Nobody in the sea kingdom had brown eyes. All were bright, but… they were so pretty. The human took his hand, seeing a rather surprised male above him and cupping his cheek, moving a strand of wet hair off his cheek. Xiao was startled by this to say the least, his smile falling yet, he didn’t move.

The human seemed to be going in and out of consciousness, so he must not have been completely awake, but yet he still had time to mumble the words, “So.. pretty..” before his hands fell back to his side, and the smile on his face had disappeared. 

Xiao turned red, quickly giggling to himself as he touched the piece of hair behind his ear. “So, I’m pretty to you humans?” He joked, though of course the unconscious man couldn’t hear it. He was too busy trying to get back to the right mind and wake up. It took a few minutes, but the human finally opened his eyes again, seeing Xiao above him and his eyes widening, shooting up and coughing up water. Xiao jumped back a bit into the water, making it so the other wouldn’t see his tail. 

“What happened? Who are you?” Were the first questions, Xiao quickly putting up his hands. “You fell into the water. To be frank, you should be thanking me, I saved you.” He grumbled, giving a small pout and rubbing his nose.

The human tilted his head, nodding slowly at the statement. He did feel somebody grab him before he passed out. It must’ve been this guy. “Sorry.. I didn’t remember. Thank you.” The brunette gave a small smile, his breathing evening out now. Xiao hummed, shrugging his shoulders and chuckling. “Well, then you’re welcome.”

The human’s smile only widened, holding out his hand. “I’m Yibo, Wang Yibo. It’s nice to meet you.” 

Xiao backed away a bit again, not knowing if this was a friendly gesture or if Yibo was being rude or about to do something. Yibo raised a brow at this, tilting his head and putting his hand down some. “What’s wrong?” The brunette asked, Xiao quickly pointing towards his hand. “Is that supposed to hurt?” He asked, Yibo letting out a small laugh and holding up his hand again. 

“No, I’m introducing myself. Usually you’d take my hand.” Yibo murmured. Xiao just gulped, giving a nervous smile and nodding slowly, taking his hand.  
“Ah, I’m Xiao Zhan.. but call me Xiao. It’s nice to meet you..”

Yibo chuckled quietly. This guy seemed a bit odd, but he wasn’t going to let that get in the way. “You’re still in the water. You should come out, you’ll get a cold if you stay in there.” 

Xiao screeched, pulling his hand back and shaking his head. “I’m fi-” 

“And why are your ears like that? Are you…” 

Xiao grabbed his hair, flinging it over his ears and puffing out his cheeks, rubbing his nose. 

“Woah… you’re a mermaid.”

Xiao scoffed. “Correction, merman. Mermaids are girls.” Yibo rolled his eyes. “Yes yes I know, but nobody really says Merman.” The human explained, making Xiao just roll his eyes. “Humans, I’ll never understand them.” 

Yibo laughed, smiling softly and shaking his head. “Alright then, you’re a merman. But I’ll stick to calling you Xiao from now on.” 

Xiao raised a brow. “How do you know I’m going to come back here?”

Yibo shrugged. “A feeling. And I usually trust my feeling, so I know you’ll come.” Xiao Zhan looked away some, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. 

“Why aren’t you afraid? Or at least surprised?” Xiao asked, resting his elbows in the sand and his chin on one of his palms. Strange creatures humans were. 

“Well, I’ve heard stories, and I hear you guys outside my windows at night singing. Though sometimes it’s really only one person.”  
Xiao nibbled at his bottom lip for a moment. Nobody ever really sang except for him. Though his sister would randomly come up with him as well to hangout or see who the human was or looked like. 

“So you just.. You’re seriously just fine with it?” He asked, Yibo giving a small nod. “It’s nice to fall asleep too. The voices are so pretty. Can all mer.. Merpeople sing like that?”

Xiao blushed, chuckling quietly and rubbing the back of his head. “Not everyone. About 65 percent are born with the talent of song. The other percent is a different talent, though music is high demand.” Xiao told, shrugging his shoulders and smiling brightly, his eyes wide. The merman’s ego was bigger than his brain at this point. “But you liked the singing?”

Yibo nodded, chuckling softly at how excited the other seemed. It was probably him, but Yibo didn’t want to embarrass the poor merman. “Mhm, best I’ve heard, and that saying something.”

Xiao wanted to squeal, but he’d end up just embarrassing himself. “W-Well, I’ll tell whoever it is you said that.” Yibo nodded. “Good, they deserve the compliment.”

The two got along just fine surprisingly. It was probably the first time a merperson had even talked with a human in centuries and not gotten killed or taken because of it.  
Yibo looked over at the water, seeing Xiao’s tail poking out and his eyes widening. “Pretty..” 

Xiao hummed, snapping out of his little dreamy faze and looking towards his where Yibo was staring, shaking his head. “Not really. My sister has a purple one, and my brother has a red one." He mumbled, rubbing at his nose and puffing out his cheeks.

"Well I think it's lovely."

Xiao hummed. Lovely? 

"You think so?"

"Mhm, it compliments you. Makes you shine brighter than you already do."


	2. Pirates Deal

Xiao Zhan had visited the lovely Yibo nearly everyday.

The two were inseparable, especially since they told each other so many interests about their worlds. Like how Merfolk could use Sand Dollars as instruments. Xiao Zhan even promised to play a bit for Yibo. The merman was interested in the human, if you couldn't tell already. Even Zhuocheng could see it. Xiao Zhan was daydreaming almost everyday, singing quietly in his cave at night while gazing all the way up at the water.

"Don't tell me you're still thinking about that human!" Zhuocheng called out from where he was cleaning, the blue tailed boy quickly looking over towards the other.

Xiao Zhan hummed quietly, resting his chin on his palm and smiling. "No, not at all. I'm thinking about coral. I want to start growing some out front."

Zuocheng just rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he put down a piece of a guitar on one of the rocky shelves. "Humans are dangerous. I mean.. the King lets us, but look at the cost. What if he betrays you? You need to look at the bigger picture."

Xiao Zhan huffed, turning around finally and setting his hands down on the sand. "I'm sure he won't. He's been teaching me how to play one of those human instruments. It sounds so beautiful out of water ZhuZhu. You should hear it sometime." The black haired boy grinned, chuckling softly at the though of them playing together. "He even introduced me to this one. It's kind of like our sand dollars, but bigger, and longer, with way more holes. But the music it brings. He can't really play anything on it but he said if I wanted to learn I cou-"

"Enough! Zhan, you can't just continue going there. There's pirates! Even if he's safe to go to, the dangers of getting there are high. Just think about it. You could be taken. Then what would we do? Me and Xuan Lu are just stuck here not knowing if you'll come back?" Xhuocheng sighed quietly, swimming over to where the older sat and patted the top of his head. "You need to be careful out there." For being younger than Xiao Zhan, Zhuocheng really did act like the older brother or dad to him. He was just adventurous, and Zhuocheng was careful. It wasn't a good mix.

Xiao Zhan's smile fell, his eyes lowering down to the sand as he rubbed at his nose. "I'm always careful... I always come back don't I?" He mumbled, floating up and crossing his arms. "You aren't my dad y'now. You can't stop me. I'll be fine."

The merman waved, already swimming past his overprotective friend.

Zhuocheng knew that the other wouldn't listen, so instead he just sighed, shaking his head and waving him off. "Be safe!" He called out, though Xiao Zhan was already swimming away far enough to not hear the other's words.

\------------------------

That was how Xiao Zhan ended up here, trying to pry a fish from a net on the ocean floor.

"Oh you poor thing. Those monstrous creatures won't get you." He told, puffing out his cheeks as he struggled to free the flailing fish in his hands.

Pirates were getting more and more creative these days with their traps and nets. What even was this material? They used to use rope, but this was shiny and rather hard and sturdy, like any wrong move and Xiao would be cut. You could never be too careful around these nets.

Eventually the merman got the poor fish out of it's trapped net, the fish only making a few glugging sounds to which Xiao Zhan bowed. "Of course, anytime my friend." Most merfolk could speak fish. It was a very common language underwater, since many came into their kingdom to visit. The fish swam away quickly, probably headed back towards their coral or cave. He wished the fish safe travels before looking down at the net under him, a frown befalling him. "I should probably bring this to the King. He'd be wanting to know what this was like. And he could examine it."

He had a moment of being proud about the fact he'd gotten his hands on one of these, picking up the metal net in his hand and looking at it closely. Too bad that moment of happiness left as quickly as it came when the net around him shot up, and entrapped the merman in it's grasp.

Xiao Zhan's eyes widened, grabbing at the net and trying to pull it apart. There wasn't any chance this was real. This only ever happened to others, not him! If you couldn't tell that he was scared, maybe the fact that there was nobody around and that Xiao Zhan was still screaming for help would convince you.

It was when hands grabbed at his arm that Xiao Zhan finally turned around.

"A-Zhan!"

"ShieJie?! What are you doing here?!" He exclaimed, Xuan Lu clinging onto him with tight arms.

"I followed you, to make sure you were safe! W-We can get you out of here!"

Xiao Zhan shook his head, already growing nervous as he didn't need his sister getting taken as well. Zhuocheng would never be able to know what had happened. "ShieJie, get out of here! You'll get taken too, just go tell Zhuocheng where I am and hurry!" He said quickly seeing the water line and his eyes widening once they were finally lifted out of the water.

"No.. no A-Zhan! I can get you out, please, just help me break the chains!"

It was when Xiao Zhan heard a fit of laughter across the boat that he turned. Pirates... so many pirates.

"Well well well.. looks like we caught something more than fish." One of them, who Xiao Zhan assumed was the captain, stepped forward, putting his foot on the ledge. "We're going to be rich boys!"

Xiao Zhan jumped at all the cheering, trembling some as he held onto his sister's hand. "ShieJie, please, go find Zhuocheng, he'll find me. I promise I'll see you again, but just go." He whispered, Xuan Lu biting at her lip as her grip loosened.

"We'll find you." She murmured, taking one last look at her brother before letting go, falling back into the water.

Xiao Zhan turned back towards the mass amount of pirates, the male quickly getting himself together and putting on a brave face. He wouldn't be able to see Yibo for a while... who knew that his brother would really be right about this, but he couldn't pay attention to that now.

When the pirate grabbed at the net, and he was close enough, Xiao Zhan bared his fangs, hissing at the crew and backing into the net as far as he could.

"Oh he's a tough one. Isn't that cute?" The crew laughed, and it made Xiao Zhan's heart sink. Nobody knew what happened once a merperson was taken, but he'd sure find out soon enough...

\--------------------------

Yibo hummed quietly to himself as he made his way through the market, his hands holding onto a small pouch brought from home in which he had his money. Where else would he keep it anyways? The brunette had been shopping for fruits, since he was supposed to meet with Xiao Zhan today and well, sadly the merman had never tried such things, so Yibo wanted to broaden his horizons a bit.

Walking around the place, he ended up at a stand that was selling oranges, which Yibo had also never had in a long time. At his castle he was given everything he could possibly desire, but Yibo wanted to make his own life. Oranges were a reminder of that. It may be a stupid symbol to others, but to him, they really were important.

"Ah, hello dear." An elderly lady spoke, giving a toothy grin as she walked back to where she could take Yibo's money. "How many would you like?" She asked, hands clasped together in front. If Xiao Zhan wanted more, that means he'd have to buy more than two.

"Four please. That'll be all." Yibo gave a smile, digging through his pouch and handing the woman a silver coin, bowing in thanks as he took his four oranges.

There must've been something going on at the harbor, because many people were whispering, some even shouting, at how Pirates had caught a mermaid. Yibo didn't exactly like the news, since he was friends with a merman after all, but none the less went to go check it out.

"Poor creatures." Well at least somebody admitted it.

You might be wondering why merfolk were so valuable to 'collect'. Well, when a mermaid or merman cries, they cry crystals. Pirates love that since it gets them a good fortune, and they make money off of them by selling them and so forth. It really was cruel. Merpeople weren't animals, they had families, others they cared about

Yibo made his way towards where the ship was, a few sailors ushering the pirates off so they could buy and claim what was theirs, and a few others yelling out to people to join their crew for the next hunt. Yibo of course, never cared, all until he saw the merman they had plucked from the bottom of the sea.

"Xiao Zhan..."

He was yelling, baring his fangs as the pirates laughed along at how they would be oh so rich, but Yibo knew otherwise, he could see the fear in the other's eyes. Yibo couldn't let him just be taken. Xiao Zhan was his friend, maybe a little more than just later on, but there was no way he was letting that happen.

As the pirates loaded the merman onto the other ship, Yibo made his way over to the one shouting for people to join on their 'great adventure'. "I'd like to join." He said quickly, his face fallen into a glare as he heard Xiao Zhan yelling at the pirates until finally he was put on the ship.

"Sure thing mate, you got any skills?" The pirate asked, raising a brow.

"I can work a sword just fine, and I can clean the ship." Yibo told quickly, his eyes glued to the ground.

The man smirked, grabbing a hat from his table and setting it on Yibo's head. "Welcome aboard. Head on up there and the Captain will greet you up top."

That was all Yibo needed to run forward, making his way up the wooden platform and tipping his hat downwards some. He'd get Xiao Zhan, he would bring him home. That was a promise.


End file.
